Progressive target



March 21, 1950 REARDQN 2,500,960

PROGRESSIVE TARGET Original Filed April 4, 1936 2 Sheets- Sheet l ffl lhuen for.

March 21, 1950 R. E. REARDON 2,500,960

PROGRESSIVETARGET 0 Original Filed April 4, 1936 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 r 4? y J0 W WM Patented Mar. 21, 1950 UITED STATES TENT FFICE Substituted for abandoned application Serial No. 72,833, April 4, 1936. This application August 31, 1945, Serial No. 613,871

3 Claims. 1

This application is a substitute for abandoned application S. N. 72,833, filed April 4, 1936.

My invention relates to improvements in progressive targets and has for its objects the provision of a target which registers the number of hits by a change in the position of the target relative to its mounting, as by means of a progressive movement of the target eifected by hullet impact, and the further provision of means for registering such progress at the firing point where the shooter is located and incidentally rewarding him for his shooting skill by automatically releasing to him the entry fee coin he has deposited for the privilege of shooting-or possibly releasing a number of such entry fee coins previously depositedin the event of his making a perfect score.

The targets, which are preferably made of cast iron suitably molded, may be of the usual gallery plate target type, or represent various animals or birds or other figures, such as competitors in a political contest.

I attain my objects by mechanism such as illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a perspective shooting galley view showing a competitive target unit designed for two shooters, with an entry fee coin box set upon the shooting counter.

Figure 2 is a vertical section of the target unit, on line aa of Fig. 1, showing mechanical means for stepping up the target figure by bullet impact, and indicating electro-magnet release connection to the entry fee coin box.

Figure 3 is a front elevation of the entry fee coin box showing the reception and disposition of coins and the hit registering barrier to coin release.

Figure 4 is a rear elevation of the entry fee coin box with back removed, showing the control mechanism and electro-magnetic release and indicating connection of magnet to battery and target unit.

Figure 5 is a front elevation of a portion of the I climbing rack shown in Figure 1, illustrating its twin bar construction with space between said bars.

Similar numerals refer to throughout the several views.

The target unit I is preferably a panel of steel plate 2 having narrow vertical slots 3 and 4 therein, and framed by a deep box of steel plate 5, which at front is inwardly turned marginally, 6, to confine within the target unit any lateral splash of bullets upon the target face.

Between the vertical slots 3 and 4. at suitably similar parts spaced distances apart, are horizontal scoring lines, or graduations, appropriately numbered, say, from 10 to 100. Above said vertical slots 3 and 4! which terminate at suitable distance below the top of the target unit, is a head panel 8 in which is mounted a gong 9, and pivoted below said gong between said slots 3 and ll are two hammer arms of metal with flag shaped terminals l0 and H, which normally lie loosely across the upper ends of slots 3 and 4 and bar same, adapted to swing upward against said gong 9 on their pivot i2, and drop freely back into their normal position of rest against the adjacent frame 5 of target unit I, overhanging, repectively, the slots 3 and 4.

Normally located at the lower ends of the slots 3 and i and adapted to slide freely upward in and over the said slots, by rearward extensions of their bodies through same, are two target figures, l3 and I l, preferably of cast iron, which in this instance represent respectively a tortoise and a toad, having in their backs bullseye apertures l5 and 16, which traverse the shank rearward extensions of said figures, as H, through the said target panel slots 3 and l. Said shank extension ll of the target fi ure is vertically mortised, as l8, and horizontally slotted, as it, the vertical mortise being of the same width as the bulls-eye hole in the target figure. A plunger, as 20, with its head 2l-A slanted inwardly and downwardly, is slidably mounted in the bulls-eye hole and has its inward end 2! mortised to house slidably the projected ends of two climbing pawls, as 22 and 23. These climbing pawls are freely pivoted, on a pivot 24, long enou h to extend slidablv through the horizontal slot I 9 in the target shank ll so that the plunger 28 may be held in place, limited in sliding movement and guided thereby, and have forked outer ends with rack en aging, rotatably mounted rollers freely pivoted laterally between them, as indicated at 25 and 26, said outer endsof the climbing pawls being connected and pulled towards each other, as far asv permitted by its mortised mounting in. the bulls-eye plunger, by a vertically disposed tension spring, as 27. V

Suspended vertically and 'pivotally from the rear top part of the target unit box, or frame 5, by pivot 29A, to a twin member cross bar 29 that is pivoted laterally to the side of the target frame at one end 30, and upheld at the other end by a tension spring 3!, is a notched bar, or rack 32, formed of two parallel bars spaced apart laterally, so that any bullets which pass through the target panel slots 3 and 4 cannot hit them. This rack bar 32 is notched in a number of ascending steps to correspond with the score graduations on the target panel face, and its lower end is steadied and bar maintained in vertical alignment by links, as 33, that are pivoted to it and the target frame 5. The bar 29 at the top of the target frame, from which rack bar 32 is suspended, is bifurcated to straddle the rack bar and carries between its forked terminals a magnet armature 34A adapted to contact an electro-- magnet (ill that is mounted adjacently above it on the target frame 5, and thereby swing downward the bar 29 and rack bar 32, withdrawing the rack teeth from engagement with the target climbing pawls and thus, by recessionof said rack bar 32 from engagement with the ends 25 'and'2fi' of the pawls 22 and 23 (caused by the supporting link 29 on which rack bar 32 is suspended-rocking on its pivot 38 by attraction of magnet 34 and depressing its outer end 3 i-A) allowing the targets to drop bygravity to their starting point at the bottom of the target panel slots 3' and d.

On the outer sides of the rack bar 32 and adja cent the notched edge of said'bar, on the upward slope of eachtarget ascension step, is located a series of studs, as 32A, which are included in the circuit of an electro-magnet 73' in the coin box by wires 74 and extended from said entry fee coin box, which circuit is momentarily'closed each time a target ascends a step, by the connecting contact of the upper roller, as 25, of the target climbing pawls 22 and 23. On'thei base of the rear and face sections of targetframe 5 are boxes and trays 35, to receive spent bullets deflected into it from the target face or the slanted face -A of the target'bull s-eye plunger 29. From the electro-inagnet 34 on the target unit circuit wires 36 and 3? extend to theifiring point and connect there with two coin box posts that are momentarily connected by insertionof each new entry coin; an electric battery, as 35!, is also included in both this circuit and that connected with electro-magnet 13.

An entry fee coin box 38 is anaccessory to each target and, as shown, is a rectangular wooden or metal box having its upper section divided vertically, longitudinallyof the box, by a partition wall 38A, and a coin banking compartment ill at its base, separated by a lateral floor partition 38-Bof the box. The. front face ll of partition wall 38-A has channels or runways d2, d3, i -l and 45 formed in it, outwardly faced and covered by a glass plate 38-0 to receive and distribute entry fee coins. As shown it may be considered'to be arranged for nickels. The rear of the box is closed by a back cover 3'8-D. In the top of the box 38 is mounted rotatably, by a transverse pivot lit-A, coin introducing or insertion gate 46, which is facially recessed, 41, to receive a coin, against the lateral pressure of spring lever finger it that is pivoted, at 5. at the side of said recess ll to be displaced by coininsertion. Thesaidlinsertion gate 46 has a resilient, tiltable. noselsectionid's that is pivoted in the body of said gate by. across/pivot 58,.and in this tiltable nose section the major area of the coin insertion recess: 43 is located. The upper side of the gate 35 has a hump extension id-B adapted to be engagedlby thumb or finger to rock the gate on its pivot id-A. The forward end Q9A of said nose section i9 is bevelled longitudinally to the nose. end and adapted, when gate it is rocked, to bear upon an oppositely bevelled edge of the coinboxpartition wall Sit-A. that is located adjacently'below'said nose sec-- 4 tion, at the upper end of coin channel 32. The said nose as can thus be swung upon its pivot 50 to such extent that the coin is tilted from the facial recess M and slides down into the coin channel 82 formed by the face M of the coin box 38 and its glass plate front 3'8--C.

Resiliently blocking the coin entrance channel 42 is a light spring tongue of metal 35A that is projected obliquely through a slot in partition wall 38A. from the terminal post of magnet wire 36 at the rear of said wall 33A into an approximate contact with the rear side of the glass plate front Bil-C. This spring tongue when pressed back fiat by a coin sliding down entrance'channel 42 momentarily contacts the adjoining terminal post 3'lA of magnet wire 37', to establish the electric circuit that operates electro-magnet St to withdraw rack bar and drop the target figures 3 and i to their zero starting point at the bottom of target panel 2.

Projecting, laterally into coin channel 42 at its junction with channels 53 and i l-is an index finger 5a which resiliently intercepts each slidcoin and depresses with it until thecoin passes into prize channel M, or bank channel 33 if'the prize channel is already filled with coins. In this instance three entry fee coins iill theprize channel and constitute the maximum prize for a perfect score of bulls-eye hits. Progress-of the prize coins down'cha'nnel M'is'barred by a semicircular, or half-moon, disk 53" ofsuitablematerial, mounted integrally on a pivot 5 t rotatable in the partition wall 38-A. This half-moon disk has a flat side whichcompletes the run-way :25 to exit channeldfi, but whenin normal position disk bars the passage with its circular side, which has adjacent the disk edge a number of score registering gradations which indicate steps of barrier lowering movement as the score increases on the target unit by progressive ascent of the target, until achievement of a perfect score has lowered the barrier completely and the prize coins roll out the exit channel 3'5. At the facial end of the bank channel 13 the runway curves into the side wall Sit-E of coin box 38} thence down into the coin compartment ll) in the coin box base. All coins that are inserted when the prize channel is filled-will roll down the upper bank channel it into the treasury compartment in the box base.

The rear face of the coin insertion gate 46 is recessed to house a pawl finger 55 that is normally upheld by an arm spring '56, pivoted on the head of a pivot stud ES -A set adjacently in the rear recess of the gate head 36; and integrated with the sprlng'lever finger it in the coin insertion recess in the face of gate 66, by their being joined by their pivot" '5? which extends through the body said gate 35' and bears in same. Displacement of the finger 38' by coin insertion in facial recess ll therefore swings down into operative position the pawl finger 55 in the rear recess of gate head 56. Adjacently below said pawl finger 55 swings a link plate 53 pivoted, asat 59, inth'e frame of coinbox'dt and having a notched upper. edge 59 adapted to be engaged by'p-awl Edi'when that is depressed by" coin insertion. in the facial recesst iTto shove aside the finger 53 therein, and said gate @6 rocked to dump the coin into the entrance channel 42. This link plate 53 has on its lower portion two studs, 5i and 62, adapted to engage, respectively, a studded rear crank" arm $5of the index finger 52 which intercepts coinv in channel 42, and a studdedfan-shaped rear crank arm 56; with its curved edge notched in descending steps, that is integrated with the half-moon coin barrier disk 53 of the prize coin channel 24 by their common mounting on opposite ends of pivot 54 which bears in the box partition wall 38A. This crank arm 56 is normally pressed downward against the coin box base by arms of a spring 68 which is freely mounted by its center coil on an extended end of the same pivot 54. Near the lower edge of this crank arm is a stud 69 which engages the looped end of a wire link $4, so that when the link plate 58 swings upwardly the crank arm 66 follows, rocking upward also, and the pivotintegrated half-moon disk 53 on the coin box face rocks correspondingly to bar the prize coin exit.

On a pivot stud it in the partition 38'--A, near the upper edge of crank arm 66, is mounted a pawl bar ll of T shape that is normally pressed against the uppermost edge of crank arm 66 by the arms of a spring 12 that is mounted by its center coil on the same pivot it. This pawl bar H is adapted to resiliently engage the teeth or notches in crank arm 66 and prevent downward movement of said crank arm. Upon the shank of said T pawl H at its lower end is pivoted an L-shaped idler, 'H-A, to make proper notch engagement positive when the crank arm is in step-by-step descent at each bulls-eye hit. On the under side of the top bar of said T pawl H, at its farther end, is mounted an armature adapted to contact an electro-magnet i3 mounted below said pawl bar H on the partition wall 38A, by means of screws, as 13A, and having circuit wires 74 and 15 leading via the electric battery to form a connection with contact points, as 32A, on the outer sides of twin rack bar 32 of the target unit, whereby a circuit is closed each time a target figure climbs and passes over said points 32A, contacting and connecting them momentarily, thus registering each bullseye hit by lowering by one space the prize barrier disk 53 on the coin box face, effected by the magnet 13 tilting the pawl bar H to let crank arm 66 drop one notch. It may be noted that while a target unit with two competitive targets is illustrated here, there is but one entry fee coin box shown. In the set up as shown, one of the progressive targets may be used for usual gallery shooting, each bulls-eye being registered by ascent of the target, and the other target may be connected with the entry fee coin box to give additional prize incentive to exercise of shooting skill. Of course two entry fee coin boxes could be used, one for each target.

The operation of my progressive target unit with its attractive accessory the entry fee coin box, which returns coins for perfect scores, is a very simple matter. The .22 rifle or other small arm being assumed to be loaded by an attendant and ready, place the entry fee coin in the insertion gate recess 41, thus moving aside the crank finger 48 therein and depressing the pawl finger 55 in the rear recess of gate 46. Then press down with thumb or finger on the hump extension d5A of gate 45, thus rocking it to swing its nose section by contact with the top of the box partition, adjacently below, and dump the coin into entrance channel 4'2. This same rocking of gate d5 bears pawl 55 into notch 60 of link plate 58 and swings said link plate, thus pulling on wire links 63 and M; depressing rear crank arms 85 of index finger 52 in the coin entrance channel 62 and raising the half-moon barrier disk in prize channel 4 The coin during disk 53, which is at high position with zero score mark registering. When prize channel M has, in this instance, three entry coins in it, succeeding coins roll down the bank channel 43 and thence through its chute continuation into the coin compartment in the base of coin box 38. The next movement occurs when a bulls-eye hit is made on the target figure. The impact of the bullet upon the slanted end of the plunger in the bulls-eye hole drives the plunger into the target body until the bullet reaches the downward outlet aiforded by the vertical slot in the target shank, where it deflects or drops into the base tray for spent bullets. in against the tension of the coil spring which connects the outer ends of the climbing pawls, the lower pawl necessarily remains in its notch of the rack because of the angle of the notch, but the upper pawl is free to slide upward and does so, reaching up until it has engaged the notch next above, and then the pawl-terminal-oonnecting coil spring contracts and pulls up the lower pawl and the target to the notch and scoring line next above the positions they occupied; the roller bearing of the upper pawl acting by contact with the rack bar studs on each notch step as it passes up over same, to close the circuit of the electromagnet 13 in the coin box and drop the halfmoon coin barrier one scoring space.

I claim:

1. In a target practice apparatus, a target frame having a facial area with a mark member movably mounted on said area and depressible at approximately right angle to said area to cause progressive movement of itself thereon by means of resilient pawl extensions on said mark member and rack extensions in the target inengagement with same, and a coin receptacle with a coin release barrier therein co-operatively connected with said target, and means in the target and coin receptacle whereby each depression of the mark member at right angle to the facial area causes recessive movement of the coin release barrier in the coin receptacle.

2. In a target practice apparatus, a target having a facial area with a bulls-eye member pro,- gressible thereon by missile impact to register hits and depressible at approximately right angle to said area to effect such progress by resilient pawl extensions on said bulls-eye member engaging recedable rack projections in said target, a goal for said bulls-eye member, and a coin receptacle having coin detaining means therein co-operatively connected with said target to open progressively towards coin release as said bullseye approaches its goal, and coin gate operated means whereby insertion of a coin in said receptacle returns said coin detaining means to full detention and releases said bulls-eye member to return to starting point, by separating said rack projections from said pawl extensions of the bulls-eye member.

3. In a target practice apparatus, a target having a facial area with a mark member movably mounted on said facial area and resiliently de- As the plunger is driven mressible ataiapproximateiyi.right ,agiei-ii' o said TREFERENCESQICITED ,area togcause:prpgress of:1tse1f by mlsslle impact v vJoyresileni;.pawl,extensicms onqsamlmark member 01 W1I e fi ces are of record .m the =Bn aging resealable rack; projections in said 1721- vvfile Of D n get, 2 coin reeepiiacle with a prize .compartment 5 1 UNITED STATES; PATENTS therein co-operatlvely connectedwith saidtarget, M ,z-meansdn said receptacle iodivert inserted coins 'N Name Date Wtohsaid prize compartment .untiLa prize quota, is r 2,103,744 Dumble 1937 z filled, andanexiticlosure in ,said prize compart- .,;ment which visibly-lessensin closing extent as 10 =.said.mark member progresses. on saidfacial area.

ROlEiEl'xfIZ'EDVVINv REARDON. 

